ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has not followed the federal government's lead to pull advertising from Facebook after the social media giant banned Australians from accessing news on the platform.
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Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee asked Mr Barr in ACT government estimates on Monday if he had given any direction to his directorate about Facebook advertising.
"No ... I'm not wading into the middle of Rupert Murdoch versus Mark Zuckerberg with the Australian government playing on the sideline," he said.
The federal government will not use Facebook to promote its vaccine rollout, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday.
Federal Finance Minister Simon Birmingham seemed to further clarify the wider government's stance on Monday morning.
"It is my expectation that we will pull back advertising on Facebook while they undertake this type of terrible activity," he told ABC Radio National.
The Chief Minister and representatives from his directorate were also asked by Ms Lee in estimates how much money the ACT government had spent on Facebook advertising.
"Not as much as Mark Zuckerberg wanted, more than what Rupert Murdoch was happy with," he replied.
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The question was taken on notice.
It came after several ACT government Facebook accounts were affected by the ban when it was implemented last Thursday.
The accounts of ACT Health, the main ACT government account and Suburban Land Agency were all down but they have since been restored.
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Lucy Bladen
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
